Improvement in car-couplings



UNiTn-D STATES PATENT 'Fricn.

HORACE A..SMEAD AND CHARLES H. HUNTLY, OF PAVILION, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR-couPLlNes.

`Specification forming partof Letters Pat-ent No.. 35,399, dated Muy 27,18H2.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, HORACE A. SMEAD l. and CHARLES H. HUNTLY, both ofPavilion,

in the county of Genesee, inthe State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Car-Couplings; and we do hereby declarethat the following is a descripltion thereof in terms which we now thinksufproduction of acar-coupling combining many advantages, chief amongwhich are 'a removable buffer of apeculiar construction, and a device bywhich the cars maybe instantly uncoupled when one runs from the track.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and useour invention, wewill proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The bumper-bar is composed ofthe 4top and bottom plates, A and A', andthe jaws B and B. The jaw B is firmly bolted to the top and bottomplates, but the jaw B is pivoted to the said plates at i a and forms oneside of the bumper-bar. It is held in its normal position up against theheel of the stationary jaw, as at b, by means of the coiled spring c,attached to hooks e e', bolted to the under side of the movable andstationary jaws B and B. In order that the movable jaw B may have a freeoutward movement, the bumper-head O is cut away on that side, as seen atf, Fig. l, the

cut-away portion being supplied by the part d bolted to or cast` withthe movable jaw. This last feature, however, is' for no other purposethan to preserve the symmetry of the coupling.

The bumper-head C ismade removable and slides on, cap like, over the endDqof the coupling-bar, where it is held by means of screws orscrew-bolts. The object of this is that when the bumper-head becomes toomuch battered or is worn out it may be replaced by a new one withoutsubstituting also a new couplingbar. Between the movable and stationaryjaws B and B is the chamber E, in which are placed the block Fand thedisk G. AThe block F is concave in front and receives the convex orcircular part of the disk G, against which it is held by means of thecoiled springs g and g. These springs also hold the disk up against theconcave parts h h of the movable and stationary jaws B and B', but notso closely as to canse friction, since the front part of the block Fbears against the shoulders t" z" of the jaws. The disk G is not aperfect disk, it having a segment, H, out out, which segment is the eX-act counterpart of the head I of the shacklebar J, and when thissegmental head is in place the disk is perfect iu formation. From thisconstruction it results that when the shackle-bar J is in place and itsouter end is moved either to the right or left, as represented in blueandred lines, the segment `G moves in its' bed Kin the oppositedirection until the curve of the bed R corresponds with the curve ofthejaws, as seen at 7c It', when the shackle-bar is at once released andthe cars are uncoupled. This feature is of great importance and itsutility illustrated when a car runs from the track. When the saidshackle-bar is in a right line with the coupling-bar, as rep` resentedin black lines, the cars are firmly coupled and by means now to bedescribed.

To the movable jaw B at the point Z is bolted the curved bar L, (shownin Fig. 2 in dotted lines,) which slides in a groove made in the bottomplate, A. Its outer end is provided with a hole, m, through which, whenthe movable jaw B is closed, passes the pin M,pivoted to one end of thelever N at n, the said pin M being kept in its position in said hole` mby means of the coiled spring O.

The uncouplingand automatic coupling are effected as follows: Themovable jaw B has attached to its outer side a hook, P, which is bentover the top plate, A, and under the cap Q, and has its end thereturnedfup at right angles to engage with the slot o in the sliding stopR. This stop is provided with a foot, S, which, by means of the coiledspring p, bears against a projection, T, on the pin end of the leverN.When,therefore,the lever Nis raisedv and the pin M withdrawn from itshole m in the curved bar L, the foot S ofthe stop R slips under theprojection T, and there retains it until the head of the shackle-bar isinserted between the jaws, when the movable jaw B yields outwardly,carrying with it the hook P and the foot S of the stop R from under theprojection T, which lets the pin M drop upon the upper surface of thecurved sliding bar L where it rests until the movable jaw B has returnedby means of the action ofthe spring c to its normal position, when thepin M drops into its hole m and locks the head of the shacklebar betweenthe jaws.

.Having thus described our invention, we shall proceed to point ont whatwe do not and what we do claim- 1. Ve do not claim, broadly, a removablebumper-head or buffer, for such an one, made in sections which areremoved and replaced by being slipped up and down over anges on the endof the coupling-bar, which sections are held together when on thecouplingbar by means of a ring encircling their necks,is known andpatented. Our object is to provide a removable bumper-head which shallavoid the objections attending such aconstruction, which are mainly,first, that when two bu mper-heads come together the shock separates orforces apart the sections of which each is made and breaks thebinding-ring, and, second, that the coupling-bar is often too short,terminating` nearly under the platform of the ear, so that a verticalmotion in removing the bumper head is not available, and the wholeapparatus must be removed; but what we do claim in this connection, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is a removablebumper head or buffer, C, when made entire, and which is removed andreplaced by sliding it on or off the end of the coupling-bar in ahorizontal direction, substantially as described.

2. We do not claim a disk with a segment removed, which disk is madeperfect by the insertion of a shackle-bar formed with a double convexhead when these devices are joined with other devices which prevent therelease ofthe shackle-bar on its deiiection to the right or left whenthe jaws are locked; but whatwe do claim, and desire to secure asaforesaid, is the imperfect disk G, which is made perfect by theinsertion of a shackle-bar formed with a solid double-convex head, incombination with jaws having concave parts h h', forming circlesconcentric with that of the disk G, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. Ve do not claim the imperfect disk G and double-convex head I whenthey are connected with mechanism which will not'permit the said disk torecede within the couplingbar when the jaws are locked and two cars cometogether; but what We do claim under this head is the combination of thedisk G and solid double-convex-headed shacklebar with the slidingspring-block F, as described.

4. Ve claim the means described for coupling and uncoupliug theshackle-bar, consisting of the spring-stop R and foot S, projection T,lever N, piu M, and curved sliding bar L, as specified.

HORACE A. SMEAD. CHARLES H. HU NTLY.

Witnesses:

GEO. ToMLiNsoN, DENBY LEWIS.

